The Information Age has produced a glut of information which is an important cataloging concern not only to librarians but to students, teachers, business and professional people, as well as general readers alike who gather and store various types of publications, such as, periodicals, music record albums, compact and floppy discs including coin and stamp collection materials. For example, in the case of periodical publications like magazines, journals, digests, mail order catalogs, etc., the constant flow of information can stack and pile up in a rather short period of time, resulting in severe mental anguish in relocating poorly marked reference sources, if at all. For this reason, publishers of some publications provide outside cover information, table of contents and seldomly an index at the close. This results in an amount of information which is necessarily associated with a reader-user but inconsistently possible to store collectively in a systematic and uniform manner and therefore discarded early or lost.
Reference markers are customarily packaged in different quantities which may include combinations of colors, and various shapes and sizes. Although in the past, loose single sheets have been inserted between the pages at the gutter margin to indicate reading passage locations. Other unorthodox methods commonly used consist of "dog-eared" page corners, inscribing the text portion or highlighting lines, if a marker is convenient, all of which are detrimental to the preservation and conservation of reference material according to the American Library Association.
Publication products are often subscribed to due to special interests which further add to the accelerated flow of personally needed information. Understandably, the systematic organization associated with the publication product becomes of secondary importance under these conditions. Thus, it is not uncommon for information as to the date of publication, issue number, special articles of interest, important statements, etc.--to go unmarked or be missing entirely from the dusty collection of publications due to the fact that it is not apparent to the user-reader the material may be only misfiled.
As a result, much inconvenience and wasted time is encountered by the researcher-user whose ability to access and retrieve needed information is dramatically inhibited forcing the researcher to a subsequent course of action for which he may regret that is due to his dependency, in part, on the necessary information unable to be produced upon demand. Not only is this undesirable from a researcher's point of view, but also from that of the user who is interested in managing his vast publication collections for inventory control purposes since the documentation may be very sketchy.
Unfortunately, until the present invention, the burden of developing and establishing some organized and systematic method of accessing and retrieving information lay individually in the initiative of the researcher-user to incorporate his own suitable technique in practice.
Examples of prior art relating to indexing devices is both historical and crowded as indicated by the following patents known to applicant. A continued search was conducted in the U.S. Patent Office, prior to filing this application, for the most recent patents issued within the following Classes/Subclasses: 283/35-42; 40/78; 40/2; 35/35 R; 35/43; 116/119 and 428/42. Cited references are those found to be most pertinent within the foregoing classes of study.
______________________________________ 4,696,491 Stenger 1987 4,680,210 Corcoran 1987 4,596,407 Suska 1986 4,437,685 Valencia 1984 4,019,759 Stanton 1977 3,968,816 Remmey 1976 3,680,229 Serrie et al. 1972 3,583,358 Hanson 1971 3,561,147 Valencia 1971 3,535,804 Cunningham 1970 3,473,827 Leadbetter 1969 3,463,515 Thompson 1969 3,324,823 Peters 1967 2,590,615 Heckendorn 1952 2,314,578 Erb 1943 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,696,491; 4,680,210; 4,596,407; and 4,437,685 constitutes the most advanced developments with which the present invention is concerned.
Stenger and Suska both disclose an information retrieval system each employing the use of loose-leaf binders. Stenger discloses an information indexing system for a recipe reference book whereby a supply of preprinted abstract pages found in a separate appendix section are selected and removed for placement among a plurality of alphabetic sections. Suska disclosure was cited for its merits in periodical storage and retrieval, where Suska claims and illustrates a duplicate index page to be constructed with the periodical adapted to be removed for separate storage in a loose-leaf binder. Both patents do not teach the present invention which is a "production-assembled" apparatus separably removable from a publication and mountable thereon by the user nor the use of adhesive bearing a releasable protective covering.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,210, Corcoran discloses repositionable markers having a laminated liner on one face, the markers manufactured as a generic stationary product and positioned in intermeshed pairs having alternation orientation on adhesive strips. This disclosure does not teach markers having intermittently severed coverings nor a "cross-matched" reciprocal arrangement between markers and a mountable directory; further the directional markers taught are not included with a publication during manufacture. Therefore, this disclosure is not the same as the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,437,685 and 4,019,759, Valencia and Stanton, respectively, disclose indexing devices for reference directories. Valencia teaches a novel book index marker device which is inserted between the pages of a book with the indexing indicia disposed above and below the top and bottom edges of the book being secured in place by an elastic band extending externally of the spine of the book. Stanton also discloses a version of an index device employing the use of elongated flat transparent plastic index tabs, each being affixed by a strip of transparent adhesive tape. Both indexing devices and securement used in each are not the same as the present invention in this respect nor are they "production-assembled" with a publication during manufacture.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,816 Remmey teaches notation related book markers which use learning key cards that relate to the tabs, the tabs corresponding to key cards stored in a mountable envelope jacket mounted to the inside of a book; the envelope holding unused tabs detachable therefrom. Further, Remmey teaches the markers having identification marks in opposite directions and that both the adhesive area and identification mark area each occupy one-half of the tab, each area being a substantially square area. Other numerous distinguishable differences lie between the Remmey disclosure and the present invention. Remmey teaches an "after-market" product and does not disclose a "production-assembled" apparatus temporarily secured with a publication during manufacture. Further, he does not teach a releasable protective covering (without a release coating) being intermittently severed, a substantially transparent adhesive adapted to be colored, an attaching area having a sum total of from about 2% to about 99.9% overlying the information area occupying substantially one face, nor a separably removable and mountable directory mountable to the outside panel of a publication, to recap a few variances untaught by Remmey.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,229 Serrie et al, discloses a reading level apparatus having matched symbols of two series using a permanent adhesive on one face, indicating a level of student reading ability and a level of book reading difficulty. The disclosure does not teach a temporarily secured convenient reference-aid assembled with a publication during manufacture readily adapted to be separably removed from a publication and mountable thereon by a user. Further, an information area is not taught to comprise both faces of the apparatus members, nor is the use of a substantially transparent adhesive adapted to be colored which are disclosed in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,358 shows an assembly of marker tabs separably removable from a matchbook-like holder for marking pages of a book. Hanson does not teach the use of a separably removable and mountable directory corresponding to markers, nor does he disclose an apparatus temporarily secured as a part of a publication during manufacture as taught by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,147 is cited as an example of a book index prefabricated as an insert leaf adapted to mount between the leaves of a reference directory which has an outwardly folded tongue reversely folded and threaded through an appropriate precut slit to provide a triple ply tab. Valencia does not disclose an apparatus separably removable from temporary securement and adhesively mounted on a publication, nor is the use of a separably mountable directory discussed. Valencia does not teach the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,804 Cunningham shows a page-edge reinforcing device and method of mounting to a "thin" directory page, where successive adjacent tabs are displaced serially when the apparatus is mounted on appropriate pages of a book longitudinally in alignment with the edge. This patent does not discuss the use of at least two "cross-matching" indicia corresponding with a mountable directory. The objects and functions are different than those of the present invention.
Leadbetter, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,827, illustrates a permanently mounted directory with separably connected index tabs to the body of a page of a book, the tabs being a folding type with transverse fold lines on the rectangular tabs intermediate their length. Leadbetter does not disclose the present invention which has identification areas on both faces of the markers, an apparatus which is temporarily secured with a publication--including a separably removable directory for mounting thereon, machine readable indicia to be accepted, an intermittently severed releasable covering adapted to be imprinted on at least one face nor a substantially transparent adhesive adapted to be colored.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,515 was selected for showing another indexing device of transparent material having a disc-shape and transparent adhesive, and utilizing an identification character on each tab for facilitating alignment with each other. The indexing apparatus disclosed is not the same as the present invention, further, no intermittently severed releasable protective covering is discussed nor is the system taught to be included during manufacturing of a publication.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,324,823 illustrates Peters disclosing an earlier version of U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,685 (1984) issued to Valencia wherein a book mark device comprising a plurality of markers, being not less than substantially the same size as a page of a book and having a tab portion opposite the inserted edge, is inserted between adjacent pages of a book into the gutter and banded by a resilient member extending around the pages adjacent the spine. This disclosure, being more closely related and similar to Valencia, however, is distinctly different from the numerous accomplishments which the present invention employs.
Heckendorn in U.S. Pat. No. 2,590,615 was selected for showing a removable page and bookmark having a formed tab with friction material at the point adapted to wedge the bookmark between the leaves of a book, to secure the book mark in position. Heckendorn does not teach the present invention having removably mountable apparatus members for mounting to a pagingated or non-paginated publication.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,314,578 Erb discloses a pair or pairs of co-acting index tabs being permanently secured by moistened adhesive or by a strip of "Scotch" tape being severed to remove the tab from the page. Erb does not discuss utilizing an intermittently severed releasable protective covering, being adapted to be imprinted on at least one face, substantially transparent adhesive adapted to be colored, nor the employment of reciprocally cooperating "cross-matched" identification indicia corresponding to a mountable directory having "like" identification indicia. This indexing device is not the same as the present invention.
No prior art disclosures suggest the accomplishments of the present invention.